


Five Times Kenma Spent His Birthday With Kuroo, and the One Time He Spent It Alone

by just_a_hungry_author



Series: The Autumn Colors Collection [2]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: 5 + 1 Things, Aaaaaaah it’s his birthday, Angst with a Happy Ending, Anxious Kozume Kenma, Birthday Fluff, Birthday Parties, Birthday Presents, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Bokuto Koutarou & Kuroo Tetsurou are Bros, Child Kozume Kenma, Child Kuroo Tetsurou, College Student Kuroo Tetsurou, Crying, Crying Kozume Kenma, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Happy Birthday Kenma, Hurt Kozume Kenma, Hurt/Comfort, Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou Friendship, Kozume Kenma is a Good Friend, KuroKen Week 2020, Protective Kuroo Tetsurou, Ranting Kozume Kenma, Sick Kozume Kenma, Sleepy Kozume Kenma, Sobbing, Spoiler alert for the next tag, Third Year Kozume Kenma, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, he gets hurt so bad but I fix it I promise, these tags are all over the place im sorry
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-16
Updated: 2020-10-16
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:06:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,685
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27045457
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/just_a_hungry_author/pseuds/just_a_hungry_author
Summary: Kuroo has always been there for Kenma on his birthday. Except for the one time he wasn’t.This is so angsty, I’m sorry.But also happy birthday Kenma!!
Relationships: Kozume Kenma & Kuroo Tetsurou
Series: The Autumn Colors Collection [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1984900
Comments: 7
Kudos: 157





	Five Times Kenma Spent His Birthday With Kuroo, and the One Time He Spent It Alone

1.  
Kenma invited Kuroo over for the first time only a few weeks after the older had moved in. 

Normally, Kuroo would just pop up on Kenma's doorstep whenever he felt like it and drag the blonde outside to play volleyball. 

Kenma's parents highly encouraged their budding friendship and always pushed Kenma to go outside with Kuroo when he could, insisting that he spent too much time inside by himself anyway.

In fact, it was during one of these little volleyball outings that Kenma extended the invitation. 

They were in the middle of water break- Kuroo lying down in the grass, tossing the volleyball to himself and chattering away.

"And then the other team scored, and they won the match in straight sets!" 

He chuckled a little bit, but frowned when he got no response. 

Pausing his tosses, he glanced at Kenma who was sitting a couple feet away.

The younger had brought his knees up to his chest and was staring off into space. 

"Are you okay?" Kuroo asked. "You're really quiet." 

"Kuroo," Kenma started hesitantly, "Do you... wanna come over next week? On Saturday?" 

Kuroo shot up immediately, the volleyball long forgotten. "Really? You've _never_ invited me over before!" 

"My mom is making me." 

Okay, that stung a little. 

Still though, it put no damper on Kuroo's enthusiasm. "Of course I wanna come over!"

Kenma looked up, confused. "Really?" 

"Yeah, we already hang out all the time outside, why shouldn't we hang out at your house too?" 

Kenma stood and stuffed his PSP into his pocket. "Um, okay. Just come over whenever, okay? You'll probably be staying all day if you can." 

With that Kenma turned and walked back towards his house, leaving Kuroo alone but excited. 

That Saturday, after lunch, Kuroo made his way over to Kenma's house. 

Nervously he approached the building, giving three quiet knocks. 

He'd come over to invite Kenma outside to play in the past, but never to be the guest himself. 

Kenma's mom opened the door with a wide grin. "Tetsurou, I'm so glad you could make it!" 

Kuroo bowed to her. "Thank you for having me, Miss Kozume." 

Then he stepped inside, removing his shoes. 

"Kenma is upstairs in his room." Miss Kozume continued. "He asked me not to make a big deal about it, but it's still so exciting, this is the first time he's had anyone here with him! Thank you for coming!" 

Kuroo bowed again and started making his way up the stairs, confused. 

What did Kenma's mom mean by this being the first time? 

The first time Kenma's had someone over? 

No, it seemed to be more than that. 

She said she was happy he could make it. 

Make it to what?

He found Kenma's room quickly- it was the only door upstairs that was open besides the bathroom. 

Inside, Kenma was sitting cross-legged on his bed, playing Mario Kart. 

Kuroo gasped. "You're allowed to have a tv in your room?" 

Kenma jumped slightly at the exclamation, then paused the game and turned to look at Kuroo. "Yeah, I got it for Christmas last year." 

Kuroo stepped further inside, taking in the details of the room. 

The boxy tv was on top of the dresser, across from Kenma's bed. 

On the left of the dresser was a door that Kuroo assumed led to a closet, and on the right was a surprisingly neat desk loaded with homework and markers. 

Kenma's bookbag was slumped on the floor nearby the desk, a pencil box poking out of it. 

To the left of the door was a small bookshelf decorated with a few books, but mostly comics, kids' manga, and video games.

Kuroo looked back to the tv. "So Mario Kart, huh?" 

"Yeah," Kenma mumbled, looking down. "But my mom said that I can't sit and play video games while you watch, so-"

"What do you mean? Can't I play with you?" 

Kenma's eyes shot up, surprised. "You... you want to play?" 

Kuroo cocked his head. "Is that weird?" 

"No, but you like to play volleyball and run around outside. I thought you'd want to do that like we always do." 

Kuroo walked over to the bed and sat down. "I like to do that stuff, but I like to play video games too. I just don't have my own console." 

"Oh, okay." 

Kenma walked over to the closet-Kuroo had been right in his assumption- and opened it. 

He picked a small box off of the ground and walked back over to the bed as he pulled the plastic wrap off of it. 

Kuroo craned his neck to get a look at the front of the box. "Is that the other controller?" 

"Yeah," Kenma started, opening the box all the way. "My dad gave it to me when I first got the console, but I've never had anyone to play with before." 

He pulled the controller out and plugged it into the gaming system. "Do you want to play Mario Kart or something else?" 

"We can keep playing Mario Kart." Kuroo said. "I'm totally gonna crush you." 

Seven races later and Kuroo still hadn't won a single time. 

He groaned in frustration as he crossed the finish line in rainbow road, earning him a whopping eighth place. 

"This track is hard, I fell off like ten million times!" 

"We can stop if you want." Kenma said. "I'm kind of getting sick of this game anyway." 

"Well we did something I wanted to do." Kuroo replied. "So now we can do something you want to do."

"Um, my dad gave me a Lego set and I've never really done one before. Would you wanna help me build it?" 

"Sure! Which one did you get?" 

"Some Star Wars one." Kenma replied. 

He walked back over to the closet- Kuroo was starting to think it was magical- and pulled the Lego set out of a blue gift bag. 

When he saw what it was, Kuroo nearly choked. " _The Millennium Falcon_?"

It took them two and a half hours to build the starship, Kuroo carefully explaining the instructions as they went.

By the time they were clicking the final bricks together Kenma's mother was calling for them. 

"Boys, come downstairs! It's time to eat!" 

Dinner was a quiet affair, Miss Kozume asking questions about what they'd spent their day doing. 

When everyone had finished eating, she stood and clapped her hands together. "Okay, we'll have cake in an hour or so, and then Tetsurou, your dad will be here to pick you up after." 

Kuroo frowned, confused. "Cake?" 

"Yeah of course! We always have cake when-"

When Kuroo's expression didn't change, Kenma's mother crossed her arms, staring pointedly at her son. "You didn't tell him?" 

Kenma's chin had dipped down to his chest and he was fiddling with his fingers. "It... didn't really come up?" 

"Tetsurou," Miss Kozume continued, "Thursday was Kenma's birthday." 

They returned to Kenma's room, and Kuroo lost. his. mind. 

"It was your birthday? Why didn't you tell me? You're nine now? You're the same age as me for a whole month! _Why didn't you tell me_?" 

"It's not a big deal." Kenma replied solemnly. "My mom says it is because I've never had a birthday party before, and I've never had friends to celebrate with. But it's okay. I don't need other kids here, I don't want them here." 

Kuroo frowned. "You don't want me here?" 

"No, not you." Kenma said quickly. "Other kids are loud and obnoxious and they like to break stuff. You're different. You're... okay." 

Hurt feelings repaired. 

"You're okay too." 

The moment passed, Kenma moved to sit back down on his bed. "So what do you want to do until cake?" 

"Actually, I have to go to the bathroom. You pick something while I'm gone." 

Kenma nodded and Kuroo slipped out of the room. 

However, rather than heading to the bathroom, he went downstairs to the kitchen, where he found Kenma's mom washing dishes. 

"Uh, Miss Kozume?" 

She turned around with a smile. "What is it, Tetsurou?" 

"Can I please use your phone? I need to call my dad." 

They were in the middle of eating cake when the doorbell rang. 

"You boys keep eating." Kenma's mother said. "I'll get it." 

She opened the door to reveal Kenma's father standing there. 

"Ah, please come in! Tetsurou, your dad's here!" 

Kuroo temporarily abandoned his cake to go greet his father. 

While the man bent down to remove his shoes, Kuroo took the opportunity to whisper in his ear. 

"Did you bring it?" 

Kuroo's father smiled. "I did, do you want to give it to him now?" 

Kuroo nodded, and his dad opened his coat to reveal a box sheathed in blue wrapping paper. 

He handed the box to his son, who proudly walked back over to the table and presented it to Kenma. "Happy birthday!" 

For the first time in his life, Kuroo saw shock take over Kenma's face. 

"Kuroo, what-?"

"Open it, open it!" Kuroo interrupted. "Presents are the best part about birthdays!" 

Kenma allowed a small smile to form as he started to carefully unwrap the box. 

Kuroo groaned, and Kenma paused. "What?" 

"Don't be so neat about it!" Kuroo complained. "Rip it!" 

This time a real smile curved Kenma's mouth and he started tearing into the wrapping paper. 

"A Lego set?" He started, holding up the toy. 

This was a superhero set, and Kenma's eyes sparkled at the build.

"Yeah!" Kuroo exclaimed. "You seemed like you had a lot of fun building the Millennium Falcon today, so I thought you'd want more Legos!" 

"Tetsurou offered up all of his allowance money to get it for you." Kuroo's father said proudly. 

"Oh, you didn't have to do this, either of you." Miss Kozume replied.

"No, we wanted to." Kuroo's father answered. "And I didn't take any of his money." 

"Thank you, Kuroo." Kenma started. "I love it."

"And you'll have to invite me back over to help you build it, right?" 

Kenma smiled. "Right." 

2.  
The next year, Kenma's mother decided to take matters into her own hands. 

Kenma's friendship with Kuroo had pulled him out of his shell the slightest bit, and she wanted to push that further. 

The week before his birthday, she approached him with a stack of yellow envelopes. 

Kenma frowned. "What's that?" 

"Invitations." Miss Kozume declared. "To your birthday party." 

"I don't want a birthday party." 

"Too late." She said. "I've already planned it." 

"Why?" Kenma whined. "I don't want to." 

"Because, your birthday is a chance for you to make some friends." 

"I have Kuroo, I don't need other friends." 

"The more the merrier." 

Kenma shook his head. 

He couldn't believe this was happening. 

How could his mom not understand that this would just make him _more_ of an outcast when nobody shows up? 

"But the other kids in my class..." Kenma started, fiddling his fingers. "They don't... they don't like me." 

"You've never talked to them before." Miss Kozume replied. "You won't know if you don't." 

"Please don't make me do this, I'll just get turned into a laughing stock." 

"Kenma, your birthday is a special time. You deserve to spend it doing something fun." 

Kenma frowned and got off his bed. "Being forced to run around with other kids is not fun." 

"You are having this party." Miss Kozume stated. "It's at the arcade, and you have to hand out _all_ the invitations." 

Kenma sighed. 

"I'm doing this because I love you." 

"Yeah, okay." 

Kenma went over to Kuroo's house the next day after school. 

The older could tell that something was bothering him. 

Still though, he didn't want to pry, so he started what he thought was an innocent conversation.

"So your birthday is coming up." He began. "What do you want?" 

"You don't have to get me anything." Kenma replied. "I wish my stupid birthday would never come." 

"What? Why?" 

"My mom is making me have a dumb party, and she's making me invite kids from my class." 

"But you're not friends with any of the kids in your class." 

"Yeah, I know." Kenma groaned. "I didn't even talk to them, I put the invitations in their cubbies when no one was around." 

Kuroo propped his head up, curious. "Am I invited?" 

"Of course you are. You might be the only good thing about this party." 

"Well then I'm sure we can find a way to have fun, even with all those other kids around!" 

Kenma spent the whole week dreading his birthday. 

He tried coming up with different ways to get out of it, but he knew his mom wouldn't fall for any of them. 

She would make him go to that party even if it killed him. 

And Kenma was pretty sure it might kill him. 

Thankfully Kenma's mom was willing to let Kuroo come early to help set up. 

They arrived at the arcade just after lunchtime, giving them an hour to prepare. 

Inside the reserved party room, Kenma and Kuroo had been put in charge of the decorations. 

The party had no theme in particular, just a collection of decorations featuring different video games that Kenma liked. 

At the moment, the two boys were blowing up balloons. 

"Seventeen!" Kuroo exclaimed, tying off his balloon. "You better hurry up or I'll beat you to twenty!" 

"I'm only on eight." Kenma huffed. "Your lungs are better than mine." 

Kuroo frowned. 

Kenma didn't look happy at all. 

Not that he normally didn't look aloof and uncaring, but now he looked... sad. 

Throwing his balloon to the side, Kuroo scooted his chair next to Kenma's and took a balloon from the blonde's bag. 

Kenma raised an eyebrow. "What are you doing?" 

"We said whoever finishes their pack first wins." Kuroo explained. "So I'm helping you." 

"I don't care about the stupid contest." 

"I'm still gonna help you." Kuroo shrugged. 

There was a moment of silence before Kuroo started speaking again. 

"You're still not excited for this party, huh?" 

"I already said my classmates don't like me." Kenma started. "I don't even think anybody will show up." 

"I'm sure they will-"

"Oh, I don't care. But my mom will be upset." 

"Come on, don't talk like that." Kuroo encouraged. "We're gonna have fun whether they show up or not." 

"Sure, whatever." 

The first kids started showing up right as the clock hit two.

Miss Kozume happily greeted the other kids' parents and started thanking them for coming, while Kenma sat at one end of a table, ignoring everyone who wasn't Kuroo. 

She turned to look at her son. "Say hi to your friends, Kenma." 

Kenma glared at her. 

She glared back, and Kenma sighed. 

"Hi." He mumbled, putting up his hand. 

The other boys said hi back, but they were clearly only interested in the flashing lights and colors from the games out in the main arcade. 

Kenma looked to his mom. "Can we go out into the arcade now?" 

"Sure, sweetie." Miss Kozume said. "Everyone grab a cup of tokens. We'll call you back here in about an hour for pizza." 

Kenma and Kuroo split off on their own immediately once everyone headed into the arcade. 

Kuroo had been focused on winning tickets, while Kenma really only cared about playing the games. 

As predicted, none of the other boys acknowledged Kenma's existence for the whole party, except at the end when singing happy birthday to him. 

In all honesty, Kenma figured they only came because they wanted the free tokens and pizza. 

He couldn't blame them though, that was the only reason he came too. 

When the other kids started leaving, Kenma's mom approached him. "Did you have fun, sweetheart?" 

"Sure, Mom." Kenma replied. "Can we please not do this next year?" 

Miss Kozume sighed, but nodded. "You stuck it out, and that's all I could've asked for. Why don't you and Kuroo go look at prizes while I start loading your presents into the car?" 

Kenma nodded, and he and Kuroo headed to the prize counter. 

"So you _didn't_ have fun today?" Kuroo asked. 

Kenma shrugged. "I had fun with you." 

Kuroo smiled at that. "What prize do you want? I'll help you get it if you don't have enough tickets." 

Ignoring the fact that he had earned way more tickets than Kuroo did, Kenma took a moment to observe the prize wall in front of him. 

None of it really appealed to him, so he turned back to Kuroo. 

The older's eyes were glued to a particular spot on the wall where a marshmallow shooter lay. 

It was one thousand tickets. 

"How many tickets do you have?" Kenma asked. 

"Three hundred." Kuroo replied, disappointed. "I'll probably just get some candy or something." 

"Here, you can have mine." 

"Kenma, no! It's your birthday." 

"So? I want you to have them. Get the marshmallow shooter." 

Kuroo smiled and accepted the tickets. "You know, _I'm_ supposed to be giving _you_ the present." 

"Whatever, you already gave me a present."

"I can't wait for you to open it later, I think-"

"No, not that present." Kenma interrupted. "You came today. Because you wanted to, not for free tokens. You didn't leave me alone." 

"Kenma," Kuroo started with a smile. "When are you gonna learn? I'll never leave you alone."

3.  
Because he'd tried it out for that one year, Kenma used the experience as leverage to keep his mom from having more parties. 

He really didn't see any reason for them, but on his thirteenth birthday she had _insisted_. 

"My little boy is officially going to be a teenager!" She exclaimed. "You _have_ to have a party!" 

"What's the point?" Kenma groaned, marching into his room. "I don't have anyone to invite." 

"You can invite the boys from your volleyball team." 

"No." Kenma said immediately. "I don't like them." 

"Fine, just Tetsurou then." 

"Exactly. He'd be the only one coming, so why do I need a party?" 

"Because I said so." Miss Kozume replied. "I'm throwing you a party. We'll have decorations, balloons, and I _will_ be taking pictures." 

Immediately after practice on Kenma's birthday, Kuroo and Kenma made their way to the younger's house.

When they walked inside, they were met with a plethora of streamers and balloons, and a quick flash of light. 

The spots cleared their vision to reveal Kenma's mother standing there, holding up her phone. 

"Happy birthday, Kenma!"

"Thanks, mom." Kenma said, aloof. "Can we go upstairs now?" 

"No, no! Stay down here in the living room. I'll leave you boys alone, I'm just gonna pop in every once in a while to take pictures." 

With that she left to her bedroom, while Kenma grabbed the bowl of chips off the kitchen table. "I can't believe she's making such a big deal out of this."

"Well birthdays are supposed to be a big deal." Kuroo replied. 

Kenma just sighed. "I don't even know what she expects us to do. Do you wanna watch a movie or something?"

Kuroo frowned. "Kenma, your mom just wants you to enjoy your birthday." 

"But she won't let me do it _my way_. I don't need parties with tons of people who don't actually care about me." 

"People would only show up to your party if they care about you." 

"Because those kids from the arcade cared about me so much." Kenma said, rolling his eyes. "I don't even know half of their names."

Kuroo sighed, deciding to let the subject go. "So, what movie are we watching?" 

Kenma's head dropped onto Kuroo's shoulder towards the end of their second movie. 

Kuroo welcomed the sleeping Kenma and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. 

"Happy birthday, Kenma." He said quietly. "One day I'm gonna throw you a party full of people who care about you, I swear." 

4.  
Kuroo knew Kenma had been having a rough year. 

High school volleyball was very different to middle school volleyball, and the blonde was definitely being worked harder than ever before. 

He often ended up with fevers after tough practices, and had even started coming to school with them once they became a regular occurrence. 

They were quite mild, never even reaching one hundred degrees, and didn't leave Kenma any worse for wear besides feeling a little rundown. 

However on his sixteenth birthday, Kenma had no typical fever.

Two days earlier, he'd been unable to get out of bed for school. 

He tried, honestly he did, but he barely had the strength to push himself up off of the mattress before falling back down. 

His mom deemed him sick after seeing his one hundred and two degree fever and kept him home from school. 

And so Kenma slept, and slept, and slept. 

His sense of time had been warped astronomically- he barely even had the strength to look at his phone for the handful of hours he was awake. 

When he _did_ check his phone there was always a text from Kuroo waiting, but Kenma's responses were always incoherent.

He had vague memories of trying to type, silhouettes of his mom sitting by his bed and trying to feed him soup, and once he could swear he heard his video games being played even though the tv wasn't on. 

When he became semi-lucid for the first time in what he guessed had been days, Kuroo was sitting at the foot of his bed in his school uniform. 

Kenma frowned, not entirely convinced that he wasn't hallucinating. "K-Kuroo?" 

"Kenma!" Kuroo exclaimed, moving closer. "You're awake!" 

Kenma furrowed his brow and tried to reach out to him, but it felt like his arm was detached from his body and he was barely able to lift it off the bed.

Kuroo noticed and grabbed the blonde's hand. "Hey, it's okay, you're okay." 

"Kuroo?" Kenma said again. 

"I'm here." Kuroo replied. "How are you feeling?" 

"Bad." Kenma managed. 

'Bad' was all he seemed to know these past couple days. 

His head hurt, his throat was dry, and the fever was making him swap between feeling too hot and too cold practically every second. 

Yeah, bad pretty much summed it up.

Kenma winced. "Kuroo, water?" 

Kuroo immediately grabbed the nearby water bottle and held it to Kenma's mouth, helping him drink. 

"You know, if helping you drink some water is the only birthday present you get from me, I'm the worst friend in the world."

Kenma frowned. "Birthday?" 

"Yup, today." 

"What time is it?" Kenma asked, knowing his birthday was on a weekday this year. "Don't you have school?" 

Kuroo frowned. "School's over." 

"It is?"

"Yeah, practice too." Kuroo replied, concerned. "It's... it's almost dinnertime, Kenma." 

"Oh." 

Kuroo brushed some of the damp hair off of Kenma's forehead. "Some birthday, huh?" 

Kenma smiled weakly. "It's not the worst birthday I've ever had." 

"No?" 

Kenma shook his head.

"When you're feeling better I'll take you out to celebrate for real." Kuroo started, reaching down to grab his backpack. "We can go to the arcade or something. But for now, here." 

He pulled out a stuffed bear and presented it to the setter. 

Kenma blinked, confused. 

At this point, he _had_ to be hallucinating. "A bear?" 

"This isn't just any bear." Kuroo said with a smirk.

He handed it to Kenma, and the blonde latched onto it instantly. "Woah." 

"It's a Thermal-Aid bear." Kuroo explained. "I put him in the freezer while I was at practice, and it should stay cold for a couple hours." 

Kenma nodded and gave a content sigh, pressing his forehead to the bear's cool stomach. 

"Not that you need it right now, but you can also put it in the microwave and warm it up." 

Kenma didn't respond, and after a moment Kuroo realized that the younger was already on his way back to sleep. 

He smiled and pulled the blanket up higher on his friend. "Happy birthday, Kenma."

5.  
Kenma continued to use the Thermal-Aid bear (that he had affectionately named Reiki) every time he wasn't feeling well. 

The cold helped when he had fevers, the heat helped when he had stomachaches, and the bear itself helped when he was just feeling lonely. 

So what if he slept with it every once in a while, even if he was turning seventeen in a few days?

Nobody needed to know. 

On his seventeenth birthday, Kuroo hadn't walked to school with him. 

He'd received a text about it not long after he woke up. 

_Morning Kenma, happy birthday! My legs are kinda sore from practice yesterday so my mom is gonna drive me to school. I'll see you at lunch, kay?_

Kenma had frowned at the text, but sent back a simple reply. 

_Okay_. 

He couldn't deny it, the walk that morning had been lonelier than usual. 

He supposed that it's what he would have to get used to once Kuroo graduated, but he pushed that thought out of his head quickly. 

That's not something he wanted to think about right now. 

Kuroo joined him and the rest of the Nekoma team at lunch, looking gleeful and not at all sore. 

"Hey guys!" He greeted. 

Kenma looked up at him. "Are you feeling better?" 

Kuroo blinked, confused. "What?" 

"Your legs?"

"Oh! Yeah, I'm alright." Kuroo said with a smile. "I was just a little tight this morning. Why, were you worried about me?" 

"No." Kenma pouted. 

The "I was just lonely." was left unsaid. 

"Oh, that reminds me. I brought you something."

Kuroo reached into his bag and pulled out a triangle-shaped cardboard box. "This is kind of a mix between an 'I'm sorry for leaving you this morning' present and a birthday present." 

Kenma smiled, recognizing the symbol on the box as being from the nearby bakery. "Thanks. And you're forgiven, I guess." 

"You guess?" Kuroo asked, shocked. "I get you a slice of your favorite apple pie and you're not even sure if you forgive me?" 

"You're on the fence." Kenma smirked, opening the pie.

"And to think I call _you_ my best friend."

Practice came quickly, and it came to an end even quicker. 

Coach Nekomata was taking it easy on the team that day, and even went so far as to let the boys go thirty minutes early. 

"Just do your cool down stretches and then you're free to go." He said. "Make sure you all get some rest before our practice match tomorrow. Kuroo, come with me." 

Kenma frowned as Kuroo followed Coach Nekomata out of the gym.

His mind started racing as they stretched.

He first wondered if Kuroo had somehow gotten into trouble with Nekomata. 

But that couldn't be it, Kuroo never got in trouble. 

Besides, he was the captain. 

They were probably just talking strategies for the practice match. 

But if that was the case, surely they'd benefit more if it was a team discussion? 

Maybe they were talking about the starting lineup. 

But they'd had the same lineup practically all year, why would they change it now? 

Maybe if- 

Kenma didn't get a chance to jump to another thought because suddenly people were speaking. 

He zoned back in and realized no, they were _singing_. 

Singing and looking at _him_. 

Catching movement out of the corner of his eye, he turned his head and saw Kuroo walking towards him, a cake in his hands. 

"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Kenma... happy birthday to you!" 

Kenma couldn't help the small smile on his face as he blew out the candles. 

Kuroo was such a dork. 

He normally hated being in the spotlight, but this was definitely a nice change from that morning when he'd walked to school by himself. 

He bowed in thanks to everyone before turning back to Kuroo. "You just love to embarrass me, don't you?" 

"It's your birthday!" Kuroo replied with a grin. "Today is supposed to be all about you."

"Today was about school and volleyball." 

"Well right _now_ is all about you." 

Kenma raised an eyebrow, the wires suddenly sparking in his brain. "Your legs weren't sore this morning, were they? You were setting this up." 

"My mom _did_ drive me." Kuroo replied. "We just happened to stop at the bakery first and get this dropped off to the teacher's lounge." 

Kenma smiled. "Thanks, Kuroo." 

"Kenmaaaaa!" Lev whined. "Let's cut the cake!" 

Yamamoto slapped him upside the head. "It's his birthday, don't be mean!"

"No, he's right. Let's cut it." Kenma said. 

Kuroo, who was still holding the cake, brought it over to a table in the corner that Nekomata had brought in. 

He set it down and after convincing Kenma to take a picture with it, cut it and started passing out slices. 

"First piece for the birthday boy." 

Kenma rolled his eyes. "You're such a dork." 

Kuroo ensured that everyone had a piece of cake before taking one himself. 

Instead of starting to eat it though, he reached into his volleyball bag and held a thin rectangle out to Kenma. 

The blonde looked down at the gift, confused. "I thought the apple pie was my present." 

"What kind of best friend would I be if all I got you for your birthday was a piece of apple pie?" 

Kenma shrugged. 

"Open it!" 

The younger started ripping off the wrapping paper (because Kuroo hated when he did it neatly) and his jaw dropped when he saw what it was. 

The next game in one of Kenma's favorite series. 

"Kuroo," Kenma sputtered, "This game isn't even scheduled for release for two more weeks! How is this in my hand right now?" 

Kuroo shrugged. "I know a guy." 

This made Kenma frown. "Tell me you didn't stab someone for this." 

Kuroo laughed. "If you _must_ know... I actually won it in a contest." 

"Really?" 

"Yeah, I saw an ad for it and thought of you, so I entered. I never thought I would actually win, but..." 

"Thank you, Kuroo."

"No problem." Kuroo grinned. "So I can come over when we're done here and watch you play it, right?" 

"Sure. But I plan to finish this game in four days or less, so just know I won't be sleeping tonight." 

As promised, when they finished their mini-party in the gym, Kuroo went over to Kenma's house. 

The captain watched Kenma play for hours, but had ended up falling asleep in his bed sometime around one in the morning. 

Kenma had glanced back after realizing that Kuroo had gone quiet, and smiled at the older. 

He only played for another hour before contentedly crawling next to him in bed.

He smiled. "Thanks, Kuroo." 

+1.  
He didn't realize how much he'd miss it. 

Walking to school with him every day, going to practice together, _playing volleyball as a team_.

A setter and his spiker. 

A teammate and his captain. 

Apparently you really don't know a good thing until it's gone. 

Kenma woke up that day feeling absolutely terrible. 

He'd been dreading his eighteenth birthday for weeks, but he still wasn't prepared for how distraught he was. 

This would be the first time in years he'd be spending it by himself. 

Even though he'd never had a real party, (one that he enjoyed anyway), Kuroo had always been there. 

Playing video games with him, building Legos with him, eating cake with him... 

But now he was gone. 

Kuroo was at college, and Kenma was still at Nekoma, alone. 

The day passed in a blur. 

He walked to school alone. 

He trudged through each of his classes, assignments going in one ear and out the other.

None of the volleyball team said a word to him about it being his birthday, not even during practice. 

He knew that some of them _knew_ it was his birthday, but they acted how they did every other day.

Kenma walked home alone.

His mom was out of town, so he didn't have to worry about her trying to force cake and balloons down his throat. 

He wasn't up for celebrating anyway. 

As soon as he got home he went straight to his room and curled up in bed without even turning on the light. 

In all honesty, it had been one of the worst days in his life. 

He was alone. 

For the first time since he was eight years old, he was truly alone.

_Kenma, when are you gonna learn? I'll never leave you._

Kuroo had broken his promise.

Reaching to his desk, Kenma grabbed Reiki. 

The stuffed bear that Kuroo gave him two years prior.

The one he used when he needed to feel better. 

God, had it been two years already?

He hugged Reiki close to him, but the bear didn't make him feel better now. 

It didn't fill the hole in his chest, it didn't stop the tears from stinging his eyes or his throat from closing up...

Only one person could do that. 

And he was away at college.

The next day, Kenma slept in until noon. 

He woke up with tears staining his face and pillow, still cuddling Reiki. 

Not wanting to get up, he mindlessly scrolled through his phone. 

Social media post in, social media post out. 

Nothing interesting, nothing that made him feel better. 

Nothing that filled the gaping hole where his heart should've been. 

Even though he didn't _want_ to celebrate his birthday, it was still weird that nobody had said anything.

He'd at least expected Lev to wish him a happy birthday. 

Did he tell everyone to not mention his birthday to him? 

He couldn't remember. 

Maybe they just didn't care to talk to him when he wasn't with Kuroo-

The thought coming to him like a punch to the throat, Kenma opened his messages. 

Nothing. 

He hadn't heard from Kuroo in a few days, which was becoming more common as the older progressed further into the semester, but yesterday, yesterday was Kenma's _birthday_. 

He hadn't texted, he hadn't called, he hadn't even posted a lame message on his Facebook page.

So Kuroo didn't care either. 

Fighting back tears, Kenma tried to convince himself that it was _fine_.

It was _fine_ because Kuroo had more important things to worry about. 

And it was _fine_ that the other boys on the team hadn't said anything either, even though they'd had ample opportunity. 

It was _fine_ that he'd spent his birthday alone, and would have to start getting used to that again. 

It was all _fine_. 

The tears were falling now, but Kenma's emotional moment was interrupted by a loud, obnoxious ringtone. 

Kenma reached for his phone, fully prepared to ignore whoever it was, but when he saw the contact name his heart stopped. 

For a brief moment he thought it was Kuroo, but then he read the full name and realized that it was Kuroo's father. 

He cleared his throat, trying to make it sound like he wasn't on the verge of breaking down, and picked up the phone. 

"H-Hello?" 

"Hey, Kenma." Kuroo's dad said. "I was cleaning out the attic and found some old consoles that I thought you might like. Would you wanna come over and take a look?" 

Kenma could barely focus on what the man was saying. 

Consoles? 

He supposed it was worth going over for, if he didn't take them they'd probably get thrown out or donated to someone who'd put them online for absurd amounts of money. 

But he looked like a hot mess at the moment. 

And he also didn't know how he would react to stepping foot in Kuroo's house right now. 

"Kenma? Are you there?" 

"Yeah." He started. "I can be over there in a few minutes, I guess." 

"Great!" Kuroo's dad replied. "See you then!" 

Kenma gave a heavy sigh as soon as he hung up the phone. 

Maybe getting out of the house would make him feel just the slightest bit better. 

That's what Kuroo always- 

Kenma pushed that thought away, rubbing at his eyes as they started to sting again. 

He had to look at least somewhat presentable. 

After scrubbing his face clean of tears, Kenma got dressed in a simple pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. 

He waited another few minutes for the redness in his face to die down, then hesitantly left the house. 

It wasn't far at all to Kuroo's house, he only lived one neighborhood over. 

As he walked, Kenma tried to prepare himself for what he would feel when he stepped inside. 

He knew it would be overwhelming, and at that conclusion he started putting up walls and disassociating.

You can't feel emotions if you've put yourself on autopilot. 

When he finally reached the house after walking as slowly as he could, he took a deep breath before hesitantly pressing the doorbell. 

Kuroo's dad answered almost immediately. "Hi, Kenma! Come in, come in!" 

Kenma bowed in greeting. 

He stepped inside and took his shoes off, allowing Kuroo's father to lead him to the living room. 

He was trying to seal his emotions away, ignoring how angry and sad and hurt he was feeling- 

"SURPRISE!" 

Kenma looked up in shock, completely thrown off course. 

The living room was completely decked out in balloons and streamers and decorations. 

There were bowls of chips and candy spread out across the room, and a flurry of people. 

Kenma couldn't even tell who was who, he was only focused on one of the crowd. 

The person directly in the center.

"K-Kuroo?" 

There he was, standing in the middle of everyone, a big stupid grin on his face like nothing was wrong. 

His mouth moved, but Kenma didn't hear any sound. 

His eyes were drilled on Kuroo. 

Kuroo, who was home from college. 

Who hadn't texted, who hadn't called. 

Who hadn't even-

A wave of heat washed over Kenma, and he suddenly felt like he would be sick. 

He turned and booked it out of the room, the floor-plan of the house memorized from years of coming over. 

He ran into the nearest bathroom and slammed the door shut behind him, breaking down into tears for the third time that day. 

He slid down to the floor, painful sobs wracking his body and forcing their way out.

His whole body was shaking, and it was getting harder and harder to take in gulps of air.

What was going on? 

Why did he come here?

What was _Kuroo_ doing here? 

Then there was a soft knock on the door. 

Speak of the devil...

"Kenma? Are you okay?" 

Kenma only cried harder at the sound of his voice. 

The voice he had been longing to hear yesterday, the one he'd _needed_ to hear, now sounded like poison. 

_What was he doing here?_

"Kenma," Kuroo said softly, his voice flooding with concern. "Open the door." 

Kenma continued to sob, and Kuroo went quiet.

For a moment Kenma thought he had gone away, leaving him to be pathetic in peace, but then the doorknob started turning. 

Crap, he forgot that there was a key above the doorframe. 

He turned away from the door as it opened, not wanting to be seen. 

Kuroo nearly gasped at the sight of his friend. "Oh Kenma..." 

Kuroo closed the door behind him and sat down next to the blonde. 

Despite not wanting to be seen a second ago, Kenma turned into Kuroo's chest and continued to sob, soaking the front of the older's shirt. 

Kuroo just wrapped his arms around him and gave him a moment to cry- clearly he was feeling very overwhelmed- but he intervened when Kenma started hiccuping.

"Kenma, stop." He said softly, "Stop, you're gonna make yourself sick." 

But Kenma didn't stop. 

He _couldn't_ stop. 

Kuroo moved his hand to the blonde's back and slowly started rubbing up and down. 

"You have to slow down. You don't want to throw up, do you?"

Kenma tried to match his breathing to the rhythm of Kuroo moving his hand up and down his back. 

After a few moments, and with a lot of difficulty, he managed to calm down enough to stop the hiccuping. 

"Good," Kuroo comforted. "That's good." 

Though to Kenma, that sounded like the most condescending thing he'd ever heard. 

In a sudden fit of anger, he shoved Kuroo away. 

"Get off of me." 

Kuroo blinked, confused at how the mood had changed fast enough to give him whiplash. "Kenma, what's wrong?" 

"What are you trying to do to my head?" Kenma growled. "What are you _doing_ here?" 

"I... I came home for the weekend?" Kuroo replied. "What are you upset about?" 

"What am I upset about?" Kenma started, raising his voice. "You haven't called, you haven't texted, nothing! Yesterday was the worst day of my life and you couldn't bother to reach out at all? Do you have any idea how it felt to spend my birthday like that? Alone?" 

Kuroo cocked his head. "Your birthday?" 

Kenma nearly broke down in sobs again. 

He just _had_ to go and choose the most ignorant best friend in the world.

"Yes, Kuroo." He hissed. "Since I was nine years old we've always spent our birthdays together, and I _knew_ that this year would be different because you were in college but I at least expected you to send a text. But I guess since you don't seem to care about me anymore-" 

"Kenma... _today_ is your birthday."

Kenma's whole world stopped. 

That didn't make any sense. 

It's not as if his birthday had changed days in the past year. 

He looked up, tears still flooding his cheeks. "So that's it, then? You can't even remember my birthday?" 

"Of course I remember your birthday." 

Kuroo pulled out his phone and held it out. "Look." 

Sure enough, there it was on the screen, plain as day. 

3:26 p.m.  
October 16. 

"What?" 

"You really thought I forgot about you?" Kuroo asked. "I could never do that." 

"But... but yesterday..." 

Now Kenma _really_ felt like puking. 

He was a jerk. 

An idiot who can't read the date on his phone. 

_Today_ was his birthday? 

How had he gotten the days mixed up? 

He'd been so sure... 

"Leave me alone." Kenma sniffled, turning away. "Just... just go." 

Kuroo frowned and moved back over to him, wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "I'm not going anywhere." 

"I'm pathetic and stupid. Leave me alone." 

"I told you, I'll never leave you alone." Kuroo said, pulling Kenma closer to him. "I want to help, Kenma. Tell me what's been going on. This isn't like you at all." 

"It's stupid, and I'm an idiot." 

"Tell me what's been going on." Kuroo repeated. 

Kenma sighed and shook his head. 

"We're not leaving this bathroom until you explain to me why you're so upset." Kuroo said. "I'm prepared to take my classes from here if I have to." 

Kenma sighed again, tears still pouring down his cheeks. 

"I... I wasn't ready to spend my birthday without you." He admitted. "It's been lonely enough going to school and practice without you, but this was different. You were the only reason I ever looked forward to my birthday. And then when the day came, or... I _thought_ it came, I felt worse than ever. And then you didn't try and contact me at all and it just... it _hurt_." 

Well now Kuroo felt like a jerk. "Kenma..." 

"I told you it was stupid." 

"It's not stupid." Kuroo replied. "I'm sorry, but I haven't texted in a while because I was getting things set up for today. I had to call Hinata and Bokuto and Akaashi and make sure their trains were set to get here on time, the stupid bakery said I never ordered your cake and they had to make a new one, then I was stressed about your presents not getting here on time..." 

He paused. "I just... wanted you to have a real party this year. I swore to you that I would throw you a party one day with all the people that care about you." 

"I don't deserve it." Kenma said pitifully. "You should tell everyone to go home. Or better yet they can stay, and I'll leave." 

"You can't leave your own party." Kuroo replied. "You're the guest of honor." 

"I'm a gross, sobbing mess." 

"Hey, it's your party and you'll cry if you want to." 

When Kenma didn't even offer a fake smile at his joke, Kuroo frowned. "If you missed me that much, you could've just said. You could've texted first." 

"Nothing would've changed." Kenma sniffled. "You'd still have been at college and I still would've been here." 

"I will _never_ , _ever_ , _ever_ be too busy for you. You can FaceTime me whenever you want and be blessed with my gorgeous face, okay?" 

Kenma gave a slow nod.

"I want to hear you say it." 

Kenma looked up at Kuroo, who was smiling at him. "Seriously?" 

"Yup. Right now." 

Kenma sighed. "You will _never_ , _ever_ , _ever_ be too busy for me. I can FaceTime you whenever I want." 

"And?" 

A small smile curled up Kenma's lips. "And be cursed with your horrible face." 

Kuroo brought a hand to his chest like he'd been shot. "Why do you feel the need to wound me?" 

"You make it too easy." 

"If it wasn't your birthday I'd leave you on this bathroom floor and go eat the cake by myself." 

Kenma sniffled again. "I'm sorry." 

"Nope, no apologizing on your birthday. You get blamed for nothing today." 

Kuroo stood and held out a hand to help Kenma up. "Why don't you take a few minutes and get cleaned up? Your face is redder than the Nekoma uniforms." 

Kenma looked in the mirror and nodded. 

"I'm sure the others are worried." Kuroo said. "I'll go tell them that you're okay and you'll be out soon, but take as long as you need. I'll bring you a shirt to change into too." 

"Thanks, Kuroo."

"Oh, and Kenma?" 

Kenma didn't get a chance to respond as he suddenly was enveloped in a bone-crushing hug, warm and comforting and _safe_. 

This had been what he needed. 

This is what filled the hole and dried his tears. 

The perfect birthday present.

"I missed you too."


End file.
